[sustran] Re: DETERMINING MRT FARES

[Jain Alok]

Its quite difficult to define "fairness" and "equity". As soon as any fare
is charged for any a transport system, it is not affordable to some. And
then there are diktat's of the free market which are against any
cross-subsidy. I think the fair system is where similar subsidy is provided
to all the modes. In developing world, there are a lot of subsidy provided
to road based transport system (which eventually benefits car-users) by way
of free-roads, subsidised fuel and by not recovering the indirect costs
incurred.

The proponents of "user-pays" principle who try to justify the high fares of
mass transit systems (but themselves travel on chauffer driven cars) never
target road based system for the same principle. Road based systems are also
disguised as means of basic mobility.

So much for "free-market economy".

Alok Jain
-----Original Message-----
From: Ramon Fernan III [mailto:heckler at quickweb.com.ph]
Sent: December 8, 1999 3:40 PM
To: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org
Subject: [sustran] Re: DETERMINING MRT FARES


Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this discussion. I guess one 
of the principles we stand by in sustainable transport is that it 
should be fair and equitable. I think that means both in terms of 
giving access to the poor and making transport affordable to the 
poor. If we were to directly address that issue, how should we go 
about it in this case (of the EDSA MRT and of the Bangkok Skytrain as 
well)? Would a fare that takes up half of a person's daily wages 
be fair to that person and to society even if it is supposed to be 
"fair" to the entity that put up that transport system? Also, aren't 
the shopping malls being built in major stations compensation in 
part to the investor and an incentive to keep fares down? The MRTC is 
assured an income by the government and also gets income from the 
mall development.

By the way, the first LRT in Manila, as I've said, is supposed to be 
subsidized as claimed by the government. The (flat) fare is Php10 and 
the subsidy per rider is Php60 (as claimed). The fare is slowly 
being raised to Php15. It is almost always packed. The government 
built it so it doesn't have to return a profit to an outside 
investor, only to repay the loan with which it was built.


Ramon Fernan III